Synopsis
Trust no one.
Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.
2014 Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.
Chris Pine Keira Knightley Kevin Costner Kenneth Branagh Lenn Kudrjawizki Colm Feore Gemma Chan Alec Utgoff Peter Andersson Nonso Anozie Aleksandar Aleksiev Deborah Rosan Price Lindsey Celine Jedidi Ricky Rajpal Karen David David Paymer David Hayman Amy J. Kim Bogdan Kominowski Maggie Daniels Annika Pergament Seth Ayott Andrew Byron Derek Lea Andy Butcher Pat Kiernan Ian Bonar Elena Velikanova Show All…
Vic Armstrong Peter Epstein Aaron Vexler Jill Brown Aja Frary Chris Cenatiempo Shawnna Thibodeau Jodi Pynn
Jeremy Woodhead Carol Hemming Paula Price Charmaine Fuller Soleil Jackson Tracey Wells Renata Gilbert
di Bonaventura Pictures Etalon-Film Paramount Mace Neufeld Productions Buckaroo Entertainment Skydance Media
Jack Ryan: Shadow One, The Ryan Initiative, Jack Ryan: Teoria Chaosu, Jack Ryan: Árnyékügynök, Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit, Código Sombra: Jack Ryan, Operação Sombra - Jack Ryan, Jack Ryan: Código sombra, Jack Ryan: Operación Sombra, Jack Ryan, Джек Райан: Теория хаоса, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (แจ็ค ไรอัน: สายลับไร้เงา), 잭 라이언: 코드네임 쉐도우, Τζακ Ράιαν: Πρώτη Αποστολή, Джак Райън: Теория на хаоса, Jack Ryan: Agente Sombra, Džek Rajan: Regrut iz senke, Джек Раян: Теорiя хаосу, Jack Ryan – Schatten-Rekrut, Jack Ryan Operacion Sombra, Џек Рајан: Повик од Сенка, エージェント ライアン, エージェントライアン, Jack Ryan : Recrue dans l'ombre, エージェント:ライアン:2014, The Ryan initiative, Jack Ryan: Operación sombra, 一触即发, Jack Ryan: Gölge Ajan, Jack Ryan: V utajení, Jack Ryan - L'iniziazione, ג'ק ריאן: גיוס הצללים, แจ็ค ไรอัน: สายลับไร้เงา, Джек Раян: Теорія хаосу, Operação Sombra: Jack Ryan, Jack Ryan: Agentul din umbră, 傑克萊恩︰詭影任務, Џек Рајан: Регрут из сенке, Džeks Raiens: Ēnu aģents, エージェント:ライアン, جک رایان : سرباز سایه, Džekas Rajanas: šešėlių užverbuotas, 驚天諜變:魅影特攻, Jack Ryan: Código Sombra, Jack Ryan: Đặc Vụ Bóng Đêm, جاك رايان: المجند الشبح, Jack Ryan: Poziv iz sjene, जैक रायन: जांबाज़ जासूस, Jack Ryan: Operació Ombra
Another entry in "Kenneth Branagh's hilarious Russian accents" and "Kevin Costner delivers exposition from park benches" cinematic universes.
I found this to be pretty goddamn average in almost every way possible. What makes it even more disappointing is the potential it had, considering a lot of the talent involved. Still enjoyable nonetheless, and I have yet to not enjoy seeing Chris Pine in something.
Kenneth Branagh is annoyingly good in this. The scene where he talks to Keira Knightley about Lermontov and regret is quite something. I was rooting for him the whole time.
Why do studios insist on making Chris Pine, a very charismatic actor, as boring as possible in every movie he's in that's not Star Trek? Why does Keira Knightley do an American accent in this that sounds like her dialect coach was the Lumpy Space Princess? Why did I see this opening weekend? What was I expecting? Much like The Sum Of All Fears, I won't remember anything in a week.
Sort of liked where this was going in the early scenes, and found the chemistry between Chris Pine and Keira Knightley surprisingly agreeable (big ups to Knightley's dialect coach; for the first time ever, I bought her American accent). But this picks up *too* much steam as it goes along; it starts off as a stripped-down movie about tradecraft, following a guy (Pine) who’s way out of his depth as he accidentally uncovers a major Russian plot to destroy the U.S. economy. Then two scenes after he kills a man for the first time in his life, he's basically James Bond; breaking into highly fortified corporate compounds and getting into car- and foot-chases. Then a couple scenes after that he…
The Good: It's nice to see Kevin Costner make a comeback.
The Bad: Hmm... I've seen this countless times before...
The Bottom Line: It's like someone dedicated his time and effort reading and studying Hollywood's Comprehensive Handbook of Action Tropes and Clichés instead of, you know, an actual Tom Clancy novel.
The Scorecard:
Direction: ★★
Acting: ★★½
Writing: ★★
Editing: ★★
Visuals: ★★
Sound: ★★★
Overall Rating: ★★
Easily the worst in the Jack Ryan movie universe.....and that is saying a lot because I strongly disliked A Sum Of All Fears. This time out Jack Ryan is played by Chris Pine. The story revolves around a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack. The first part of the movie deals with Pine being recruited by Kevin Costner to join the CIA and his courtship of Keira Knightley. I actually was enjoying the movie up to that point.
Then Pine finds himself in Russia...and just like John McClane in Die Hard: 5....the movie falls apart once he lands in Russia. In Russia we are subjected to "one stupid shake your head in disbelief moment after…
They wouldn't take away the bookish, awkward analyst traits of the Jack Ryan character and make Keira Knightley use an American accent would they? They wouldn't do that would they??
Kenneth Branagh's "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" attempts to reinvigorate Tom Clancy's Cold War-era hero by recasting the character and rewriting his mythology. The attempt almost works, but the film is too set on giving its audience a token thriller with a token hero as opposed to the brainy, geopolitical thrillers with a like-minded hero that set films like "The Hunt for Red October" and "Clear and Present Danger" apart from the run-of-the-mill action/adventure set years ago. "...Shadow Recruit" ends up being entertaining, but it misses an opportunity to stand out as something special.
Filling Jack Ryan's well-worn shoes for this outing is Chris Pine. Pine is likable and could have pulled off the thinking-person's hero aspect of the character had…
”Regret. It piles up around us like books we never read.”
A boring thriller. That sounds like a strange combination, but Shadow Recruit is a really strange movie, seeing Kenneth Branagh – who is more famous for his critically acclaimed adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works – directing a spy thriller is something quite surprising. I can’t understand what has attracted him to this typical and totally predictable project but going through the painful experience of watching Shadow Recruit proves that its better for some directors to stay away from projects as generic and as cliched as this one, they can’t use their creativity in such movies and as a result of that the final product becomes impossible to watch, actually…